A symposium entitled: ‘European Fans in Training (EuroFIT): results from research to develop and evaluate a lifestyle program for men delivered in professional football clubs in four countries’ will be facilitated at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity annual meeting. The conference will be held in Hong Kong from 3- 6 June 2018. The chairs of the session will be EuroFIT PI Prof. Sally Wyke of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK andProf. Greet Cardon of the Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

The purpose of the symposium is to present results of the European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) project funded by the EU in order to generate discussion about the impact on public health.

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Developed with the goal to change the social norm in Portugal, and encourage the football clubs to be seen also as agents of health promotion, the Portuguese Football Federation it is hosting the EuroFIT program at their facilities in the City of Football (home of Portuguese national football team).

By hosting the program (and sponsoring the pilot clubs) the FPF aims to lead by example and influence others!

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On November 14th and 15th, coaches from Braga and Rio Ave football clubs received their coach training. Both clubs will start recruitment and plan to begin the EuroFIT program in January 2018.

“It was great training, we learned a lot of new and exciting things but most of all a new way of interacting with participants and facilitating change!” said one of the participants. Some former FMH-University of Lisboa students (now working in the sports arena) also received the training, anticipating future delivery of it. The training occurred at the home of the Portuguese National Team, and was led by Marlene Silva and Hugo Pereira, EuroFIT researchers at FMH-U Lisbon, with the assistance of former EuroFIT coaches from SL Benfica and FC Porto. Examples and assistance from these former coaches were great and much appreciated. Everyone was unanimous in considering that their inputs brought not only applied examples, but also reassurance and inspiration. Team spirit and camaraderie were dominant throughout the training!

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Reaching out to non-scientific audiences with the project mission, objectives and findings is important too. EuroFIT partners have communicated with a variety of audiences and spread the word in non-scientific journals, such as:

• The journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology devoted to health professionals, “Factores de Risco”, “invited Marlene Silva to write a piece on “The football club as a promoter of health in the population: the example of the EuroFIT program”.
• Pedro Teixeira, Hugo Pereira and Marlene Silva were invited by the Journal of the Portuguese Football Federation to write an article on the importance of football to promote health; the EuroFIT program was as an illustrative example.
• Marlene Silva and Pedro Teixeira were invited to write a piece reflecting the potential role of football clubs to promote community health. Healthy Stadia provided some data for the piece and the EuroFIT program was used as an example
• “Saber Viver”, a lifestyle journal, made a piece on EuroFIT. Healthy Stadia’s work was also featured and described.
• Bunn, C. (2017) Fitness for fans: professional football and public health. Football Medic and Scientist, Issue 20: Spring 2017.

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On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, SK Brann presented a collaboration with Norway’s Sports College, which will make motivated supporters more physically active and in better shape.

Dr Eivind Andersen, a researcher in the Department of Coaching and Psychology in the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences facilitated a ‘coaching of the coaches’ session at the new club, SK Brann in Bergen, Norway.

During the coaching session, four coaches were in attendance. The training entailed key elements of EuroFIT; physical activity, diet, weight reduction and group dynamics. These training sessions are embedded in a study on the implementation of the EuroFIT health promotion program for supporters of football clubs.

Andersen comments, “SK Brann is a professional and dedicated club in which I have full confidence will deliver EuroFIT in a good way”

Several EuroFIT partners presented at ISBNPA (International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity) 2017, in Victoria, British Columbia.

The abstracts book can be downloaded here. Check out “IT’S BEEN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, NOT ONLY FOR THE TRAINING BUT THE MEETING LIKE-MINDED FELLAS”: UNDERSTANDING WHAT SUPPORTS MEN TO MAKE LASTING LIFESTYLE CHANGE THROUGH GROUP-BASED BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROGRAMMES, on page 21.

We were delighted to have a substantial article by our own Marlene Silva (partner FMH) published by the Portuguese Society of Cardiology. The article was titled “The football club as a promoter of health in the population: the example of the EuroFIT program” and can be viewed here (Portuguese language). RFR_art693

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EuroFIT received extensive media coverage, in the context of the ECO 2017 Conference. The following links are all Portuguese media (ECO took place in Porto), and highlight the commitment of major football clubs to the project, and the benefits that fans enjoy from the project.

Project Info

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 602170. The material presented and views expressed here are the responsibility of the author(s) only. The EU Commission takes no responsibility for any use made of the information set out.